Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/213

Rh fertility to the most remarkable system of irrigation in Peru, which I believe to have been due to the skill, intelligence, and industry of the Lucanas. These mountaineers were remarkable for their strength, as well as for their skill and industry. In later times it was their special privilege to carry the imperial litter.

The Nasca valley is one of the most striking monuments of Andean civilisation. The fertilising water is led from the mountains of Lucanas by subterraneous channels, built of stone and the height of a man. Their origin in the mountains is now unknown. The water flows down them perennially, and is eventually spread over the valley by smaller channels, converting a coast desert into an earthly paradise. Pottery of a peculiar design, and believed to be of great antiquity, has recently been found in the valley of Nasca.

Chinchay-suyu, the northern division of the empire, includes the two great ranges of the Andes, and the rich and fertile valleys between them. The direction becomes nearly north and south, following the trend of the coast, not east and west as in Cunti-suyu. The valleys supported very large populations, and the mountains were inhabited by tribes of hardy mountaineers. 3em